Q.791 Open Bank Account in India

- Indian Bank Accounts for

Foreigner

Question: My question is: a foreigner who is working in his country has some transactions from Indian branch too. Can he in that case open a permanent bank account here in India. Bharathi Manickam. Answer: Some foreigners can open bank accounts in India. There are a few categories that come into consideration regarding opening of bank accounts in India. Consider the following for category clarification: A person can be classified for bank account opening purposes as: 1. Indian citizen residing in India. Indian Citizens residing in India Can open resident Indian bank accounts 2. Indian citizen residing abroad (Non Resident Indian – NRI) can open non-resident category bank accounts in India. They cannot open resident Indian bank accounts. Any resident accounts they had prior to moving abroad should be changed over to the non-resident account type like NRO or NRE bank accounts. 3. Foreign citizen residing in India for work/business etc. Can open resident bank accounts. These resident bank accounts must be changed over to NRO account when such foreigners leave India after say, completing their employment. This is to allow crediting of any pending amounts still due to them. Once such transactions are complete the funds must be repatriated abroad and the Indian bank account closed. Maximum amount allowed for repatriation is one million US$ per financial year. 4. Foreign citizen of Indian origin can open and operate Nonresident accounts such as NRO, NRE etc. They need not even be in India to open such accounts as they can be opened online. They can also do banking transactions online. The only restriction for foreign citizens of Indian origin regards to banking in India is that they cannot open resident bank accounts in India. 5. Foreign tourist visiting India are allowed to open Non-Resident bank account NRO and Current/Savings account in India for a maximum period of six months. There happens to be a rule in India that payments to residents exceeding Indian Rupees 50,000 should only be made through banking channels for example by cheques, bank draft etc. This type of bank account helps foreign tourists comply with the law. However it appears that despite the Rupee 50,000 limit for cash transactions In India, most businesses continue to accept cash way above the limit. More information on this topic is available on this website and can be viewed by visiting the link show below: http://nriinformation.com/nri_questions7/questi on556.htm